With their 39-33 win over the Sumter County Lady Wildcats Friday night, the 16-4 Lady Tigers of Demopolis must now turn their full attention to tonight’s do or die Area Tournament bout with Greene County.

Friday night the Lady Tigers finished off regular season play outscoring the Lady Cougars 14-4 in the fourth period to get the come from behind win.

“I was real impressed with the performance I got from my bench players Friday night,” DHS head coach Tony Pittman said. “Lakeitha Collins really stepped it up for us. She did an outstanding job on defense.”

Collins replaced sophomore forward Katira Johnson Friday night and collected 5 rebounds and 1 steal. According to Pittman, Johnson was not able to make the trip to York Friday night due to disciplinary reasons that were not school related.

Johnson’s absence may have put a damper on the Lady Tigers’ scoring percentage, as they went 11-for-29 (38 percent) from the floor and 2-of-6 (33 percent) from behind the arch.

But the Lady Tigers made up for it with their performance from the line Friday night, as they hit 11-of-21 (52 percent).

Gabrielle Essex led the way for the Lady Tigers Friday night with 13 points and 9 rebounds, while Shawnese Armstead followed with 13 points, 3 rebounds and 4 steals.

Now that the regular season is out of the way, it’s time for the Lady Tigers to get serious about basketball. Tonight the Lady Tigers will begin their journey to the top of the mountain when they host the Lady Tigers of Greene County as the Class 4A Area 8 Tournament gets under way.

“The first game is always the toughest because it doesn’t matter how well you have played up to this point,” Pittman said. “If we lose it’s all over.”

The Lady Tigers managed to split the regular season series with Greene County 1-1, winning at home 49-33 and falling 42-36 on the road. But coach Pittman has his team prepared and knows that losing in not an option.

“We have learned from our mistakes before with Greene County and we know what we have to do,” Pittman said.

According to Pittman, in order for the Lady Tigers to earn their go ahead pass to the next round they must take advantage of what is given to them.

“When I went back to look at the tapes of our games this season with Greene County I noticed that we missed way too many easy lay ups,” Pittman said. ‘We have got to take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to us.”